AN: That time I actually turned a mundane scene and 'realm level' monologue into a fucking Xianxia styled chapter. Kuh... I'm courting death.
Chapter 14
Over thirty people were invited into my house to enjoy an early breakfast.
I already had five people (excluding myself) that were living in my home on a permanent basis so that was an automatic plus five when I include Artemis, Alfia, Fiore, Radia and Nazica.
From Heaven's faction, I counted Gabriel and two of her Brave Saints (both of which were Seraph level), Griselda Quarta and Mirana Shatarova. Then there was Dulio Gesualdo, Metatron, and his 'Jack' Kiyotora Shinra and another ten angels that weren't noteworthy in my eyes but I felt compelled to invite them in any way since they were standing outside my house for well over two hours.
The usual culprits from the Hyoudou Family that I called the 'magic research squad' were present as well. Namely Le Fay, Rossweisse, her daughter Helmwige and Kurenai. The latter two could be here since they don't bother attending school, like Airi and I.
Speaking of Airi, she was here too, along with her mother Asia and the rest of the 'church trio', Irina and Xenovia.
The number of in-laws I had invited in didn't stop there as I finally met Rias Gremory and Ravel Hyoudou nee Phenex properly as their husband's 'representative', as my previous actions would have wide ramifications across the entire supernatural community since God was a huge deal back in the day and Issei was the designated 'symbol of peace' equivalent right now, so he needed to be involved in this discussion one way or another.
On a surface glance, it would have appeared as if he had sent Rias and Ravel to confirm some things about me and to express his concerns for the wider supernatural community (that had yet to find out about the latest news from Heaven's rumor mill and official channels), and that he had the foresight to send his wives in his stead to keep things from escalation due to our 'tense' personal relationship.
While Issei Hyoudou has gotten more politically canny, the fact of the matter was that the two devil princesses (or rather Queen's, in a way) had pretty much scolded him to sit his ass down in his office and let them 'handle me' since they knew we would start criticizing each other and escalating in no time.
That was one of their main reasons for coming over, their other main reason, was to finally meet their son-in-law who married one of their precious daughters. They had a generally positive impression of me and I had no intentions of messing it up.
Hence my decision to treat them all to the best breakfast possible!
My reluctance to leave all the mob angels that were patiently waiting for me to wake up also stemmed from this heaven-sent opportunity to further improve my image in everyone's eyes by showing just how generous and compassionate I can be.
That said, I needed to have a dozen paper clones working like madmen in the two minutes I had to receive everyone into my home.
Refurbishing my dining room at the last possible minute was as much of a priority as was preparing a breakfast worthy of true immortals!
In order to host so many people in my dining room at once, I needed to activate the space-time formation arrays installed in my home as one of the hundred defensive arrays for utility purposes. Using my powers to directly expand space would screw up my current defensive schemes (which were pretty outdated now that my power had increased by leaps and bounds) so that option had to be shelved until I can turn my fortress of a home into a Domain ruled by god-like entities.
My clones utilized their master craftsmanship that I had evolved further from my Essence of the Crafter to transform the dining room into a dazzling feast hall with transmutation and a few finishing touches by hand.
The rest of my clones had quickly gathered up ingredients for an English Breakfast from my many secret realms before secluding themselves in the secret realm hidden in a painting with the highest time dilation rate (and absurd power requirements, even for me) of 1000:1 to serve as a kitchen.
When I brought everyone into the refurbished dining room they were all met with the sight of an impossibly beautiful room with their food and drinks already being served by my clones wearing chef and butler outfits. The unmarried females of the room were, at minimum, 'highly intrigued' by the impression given by the cosplaying clones sharing my likeness.
Immediately after taking in the feast for their eyes, the aromatic fragrance of the food and drinks made with some of my best ingredients diffused into the surroundings made them all sniff the air in delight.
Not bad for 'two minutes' worth of work, if I dare say so myself!
And I do dare, because all the work was done by me, quite literally.
I may not be able to use these clones for speeding up my training effectively like the Shadow Clone Technique, but there were many 'pros' to my Paper Clone technique, including the fact that the clones could perform any non-innovative task I was capable of while having no autonomy and couldn't refuse to work as lazy shadow clones could.
"You'll find that your seats have already been arranged accordingly, we'll be having an English full breakfast with ingredients freshly chosen and prepared from my personal realms. You may find more details on the menu printed and placed on each of your seats."
We ended up slightly delayed on the way to the chair because a few angels were on the verge of crying because their 'father' lowered himself to serve them food. Those mainly consisted of the 'pure angels' and none of the more skeptical reincarnated angels.
Speaking of reincarnated angels, Irina Hyoudou nee Shidou was (surprisingly) part of the group that did think I was God's reincarnation and was over the moon about getting to eat food prepared by me. Her prayer of thanks even consisted of a reference to that time when Jesus served his disciples at the Passover.
"H-how could this be? I can feel immense power radiating from the food!"
Rias Gremory was looked at with a "you'll get used to it" look from the Hyoudou 'magic research squad' for her reaction. Speaking of those in-laws, they were being quite rude with all their scanning magic circles recording every detail of my meal!
Just eat it already!
"Mnn! What an aroma! Just smelling it is enough to wake me up!" Ravel had clearly moved on to become a coffee person after working with Issei's hectic schedule for so long.
"Haha, I assure you, drinking it will be far better than just consuming the aroma. This Blaze Heart Spirit Coffee blend is one of my specialties."
Ravel perked up at the odd sight of me speaking normally despite the distance between us, while her supernatural senses would have allowed her to pick up a whisper, my normal volume would have been 'louder' to her ears.
I addressed everyone and waved it off, "I have an enchantment placed that will enable words addressed to any recipient to be heard at the volume intended by the speaker."
Airi, who was seated beside her mother, whispered, "For the sake of my sanity, please enchant our home's dining room with that."
Ah yes, family meals at a harem protagonist's household can be a nightmare.
Asia Hyoudou smiled brightly and echoed her daughter's sentiments with hope in her eyes. I was swiftly bombarded by the rest of the Hyoudou family with requests to add that enchantment to their home.
I greatly appreciated Rias Gremory's opportunistic nature when she said something different by immediately throwing an offer to advertise my special enchantment services in the future.
A few pure angels that could lip-read (excluding Gabriel and Metatron) looked like they were about to shout 'you dare?!' at Rias Gremory for her shamelessness.
I simply chuckled then had my clones respond to everyone (and prevent the angels from escalating) while politely declining my mother-in-law's business offer. Judging by her smile, it looked like she approved of my action and would probably badger me frequently until we got back to the negotiation table.
"Little bro, I can make these meals for you if you let me know ahead of time, remove that magic circle away and eat already." I said to Kurenai and then looked at everyone, "That goes for all of you too, stop admiring the food and start already."
Rampaging Dragon Cow Sausage, Golden Pig Back Bacon, Sturdy Earth Chicken Sunny-Side Up Eggs, Taotie Tomatoes, Rainbow Mushrooms, Sage Herb Bread, and Crimson Blood-Path Understanding Beans served with a cup of Blaze Heart Spirit Coffee.
In Airi's case, she hasn't quite acquired a taste for coffee. so I gave her some Exquisite Soul Orange Juice instead.
At any rate, their reactions were on point and wouldn't be out of place in a cooking manga.
Their eyes sparkled with delight as they continuously gobbled down the meal prepared for them. Half the angels, who were probably used to subsisting on 'ordinary' food and avoided luxurious foods, wept tears of joy as they consumed the meal. The Seraphs did not react in such an over-the-top manner despite their clear enjoyment, Dulio in particular, ate his food at the slowest pace in order to discern its true quality.
For the rest of my guests, the utensils in their hands never stopped moving until the end, where they savored the piping hot coffee containing profound insights into the Laws of Fire. The only people that would get the full benefit from drinking the coffee would be members of my household that had all been taught my brand of magic (which allowed them to slowly develop their native magical systems towards a supernatural reactor like my own) and the basics of Cultivation, allowing them to absorb and contemplate those insights later on to further their Cultivation.
I felt a deep sense of satisfaction with everyone's current manner of eating. The ones that ate without constraints were proof that my cooking has nearly reached that of an Immortal Chef.
"Mnn! Delicious! Hmm, hold on…" Artemis, who was sitting directly to my right (as Airi was sitting with her family, Artemis gets the first wife seat by default), looked at me with a suspicious gaze, "If you could make out meals this satisfying all the time then why didn't you?"
"We all made the decision to split cooking duties equally. 'Cheating' by relying on high-quality ingredients would undermine your growing confidence in your cooking skills and set unrealistic expectations for mealtimes." I answered honestly while not mentioning the times where I had to train my basic cooking abilities by repeatedly preparing immortal-grade ingredients and taste-testing my own dishes until I got it right.
I wasn't about to let my women eat anything less than my best when it came to dishes of the next realm, which was why I didn't let them taste my 'failure' dishes.
"Have I reached the level of the divine dishes you were used to in the realm of the gods yet?" I asked Artemis who was looking at me with pride in her eyes.
"Quite so. It would be only counted among the 'average' graded meals, but it is still a meal fit for divines."
"Hmm, as they say, there are Heavens beyond the Heavens."
I really wanted to say "There's always a bigger fish", but since I'm a Xianxia MC I have to use the appropriate terminology instead. Urgh, maybe I can indulge a bit when I visit Star Wars myself…
"The coffee is wonderful, and if your brewing skills is this good, then you really should try making some wine. I would rather not rely on Soma or the other gods of wine for my supply."
… Come to think of it, I don't remember ever giving Artemis any alcohol before. Airi and I generally abstained from alcohol, my wife did so because she's a 'good girl' when it comes to the strangest laws, while I made sure to remain sober so that I wouldn't let a hint of my not-so-nice thoughts slip out.
My gut feeling says that it's a 'bad' idea to get Artemis drunk… then again, the 'bad' ideas are often the most entertaining ones so I'll do just that.
"Same here. I'd rather not pop by Orario anytime soon, at least, not without Alfia tagging along." I say while narrowing my eyes at the warrior mage that wouldn't visit the people she knew until she had achievements that would not result in her 'losing face'.
"I can't show my face to my Familia, sister, and nephew-" Tch, so close, "-until I have more satisfying stories to share with them." Alfia returned the look as she 'reminded' me to take responsibility and shove her into a situation where her skills could be put to good use.
Personally, I think that she should consider 'up-skilling' for more peacetime skills since she's really sounding like an unsatisfied retired hero that's going through a midlife crisis. Not that I would say that to her face, she is already sensitive enough about her age after having lived with silver hair for so long.
Despite my own gripes, I did agree with her with regards to facing challenges, performing great works and gaining even more power in doing so. In the end, power and wisdom were necessary to surviving the dangers of the multiverse, the pursuit of both while still keeping to one's ideals is essential to a successful life.
"You should get into video games then. Try the Final Fantasy series, who knows, I might just toss you in one of those worlds while you're asleep and eagerly await tales of your accomplishments."
I almost laughed at Alfia's annoyed look, she knows full well that I would actually go through with it, which means she would actually have to start playing video games if she wants to aim for the 'golden ending'.
Well, well, looks like I can teach a fantasy hero some new tricks (video gaming) and have them utilize their life skills without wasting any effort!
Our private conversation was soon interrupted by my in-laws and the various factions gathered together in the room. The first thing we ended up addressing was the 'reincarnated god' part where I reiterated everything the angels and I discussed yesterday for everyone's benefit with the good old memory projection spell.
"So you're actually one of those overpowered reincarnated protagonists that you have always complained about?" Airi grinned slyly in my direction with enough smugness to match Spongebob when he caught Squidward stealing a Krabby Patty.
"It doesn't count. I barely remember who I was in my past life." I quickly answered her when I had the premonition that Rias was going to ask an age-related question, which would make things awkward. "I worked myself to the bone exploring my surprising amount of power and numerous talents until I forgot my old name and a lot of other things."
I wasn't surprised to see Airi taking the revelation so well, after all, our love for one another could never be in doubt! The eventful year we spent together as husband and wife had also prepared her to handle surprises such as these so the only people I had to reassure was everyone else that wasn't part of my immediate household.
Gabriel, on the other hand, seemed to have taken it the wrong way and looked upon me with worry. I quickly reassured her that it wasn't a terrible life, just one that I succeeded too well in setting aside to deal with my new life, to the point where I forgot most details but still retained key impressions of.
The beautiful angel on my left (and a few pure angels) seemed relieved after my clarifications.
With that dealt with, the discussion moved on to how the various factions and supernatural communities would react to the changes to God's System and the Sacred Gear System.
Kurenai essentially summarized the Grigori's POV for the latter system, namely that they would be disappointed with the lack of research material, but would be looking forward to seeing how Sacred Gears develop now that I introduced much more flexibility and stability. Not having to kill Sacred Gear users with a penchant for running amok would make most fallen angels happy, except for the sadistic ones that are looking for an excuse to kill humans (e.g. Raynare), which apparently, was still a thing.
Ravel echoed her son's (technically Akeno's, but the children are all shared within the Hyoudou household) sentiments for the devils, only with less research focus and more on 'recruitment potential' points.
Artemis furrowed brow gave away her confusion, "Hold on, why are Sacred Gears even given to humans if they're going to end up in the hands of non-human races anyways?"
Thankfully, I did not have to give Artemis the exposition scene, since everyone had their own opinion on it. Rias shared the general devil viewpoint (e.g. Greed in collecting shinies, battle potential, etc...) without any shame, Kurenai gave the Fallen Angel's more practical reasons (lowest population, desperately need human agents, etc...), Dulio built up on Kurenai's explanation and then double-downed on how the Angel's were in an even worse position due to the death of God.
"-To sum it all up, unless you have the protection of a magician's association or another faction like Cao Cao's supernatural world policing group, Sacred Gear users will always be sought after and will not be able to live peacefully, especially when they have awakened. The situation isn't as dire as it was from all those decades ago now that we are at peace, but there is no practical reason to change the recruitment playbook. If everyone is treated as an equal partner with terms being fair and adhered to then any recruitment method that does not necessitate a race change is no different from an employment contract."
Le Fay tied everyone's viewpoint up nicely and then introduced the human perspective to it, although, it's fair to say that Le Fay was biased given that she grew up in a prestigious human family that never had to deal with those issues and didn't have a Sacred Gear.
Fiore, Radia, and Nazica were already running some Magus 'calculations' in their head. I didn't have to worry about them falling for anyone's shameless recruitment strategies since I made it very clear that the path I laid out for them would grant them more power and benefits than everyone else's.
Instead, I would look forward to the inevitable flood of idiots trying to recruit the female Magi from another world, so that I could finally beat some 'toads lusting after swans meat' to death.
Artemis wasn't thrilled with the situation, but I whispered some reassurances to her (telepathically) that I would settle the matter in the future.
"This is a waste of time. Everyone here is committed to this 'new era' of peace and co-operation so all this concern about 'poaching talent' and other trivialities is a worry of the past. Unless of course, this is merely a prolonged ceasefire with a secret build-up of forces on all sides…" Alfia's provocation incensed everyone right until she changed tracks and smiled, "-but from all I have heard from Airi about everyone's efforts, I sincerely doubt that is the case."
Alfia didn't seem very concerned since she was born in a world where other races get along and differences were set aside when there was a common goal to work towards (like not letting the dungeon end the world). She understood that while the current situation wasn't ideal, it would still get better in the long run so long as the leaders were genuinely committed to the cause and were competent in working towards it.
And besides...
"Besides, Dio wouldn't allow that to happen."
… I wouldn't let any idiot warmongers, selfish people in important places of power, and relics of a bygone era get in my way of turning this world into a paradise worthy of being dwelled in by Airi, Artemis, and any other women that I would come to love.
I grinned and nodded in agreement to Alfia's words, which further assured Artemis (and Gabriel?) at the same time.
"Rightly so. There's a lot of work to be done in the world, but if everyone does their part then at some point racial divides and old faction conflicts will be a thing of the past." Some adjustments to their education, social values, and media messaging over a long period of time will ensure that happens, which I will be involved in if necessary, "As for the mundane side of things, I'll be handling that. Dealing with pollution, inefficient technologies, and improving resource distribution will be the first thing on my to-do list."
"That sounds like something that everyone in the family would love to pitch in for, but I feel like we ended up digressing a fair bit." Ravel chimed in and brought everyone back to the main agenda, "To sum it up, the Biblical Factions won't be shaken up by the Sacred Gear changes. And for the sake of brevity, I can safely say that by and large, no one really cares about Heaven's System getting an upgrade."
Leave it to best manager Ravel to sort everything out in a clear way!
"-Whether or not my son-in-law is the reincarnated God of the Bible doesn't matter either, the real issue is that some Angels believe that he is and has undoubtedly leaked it to someone else, who will then leak it to someone else until it reaches the factions that felt themselves wronged by or live in fear of the God of the Bible. This involves the Underworld since most devils, old and new alike, believe that if the Biblical God was still among the living, would gather up Heaven's forces and start Great War II. The same applies to the Fallen Angels, albeit to a lesser extent."
"It would be painful to fight such a war again after we made such great friends from all sides." Gabriel had a sorrowful expression as she said those words… while not at all denying that she would have done just that if God commanded her to do so.
The implications were not lost among everyone in the room.
Only Airi, my household (Artemis, Alfia, Fiore, the Pental sisters), the 'magic research squad' and Asia Hyoudou did not show a shred of worry at her statement.
"Well, that's pretty easy to solve. Give me 5 seconds."
I invoke the Transcendent God Art, [Unified-Realm, Divine Augmentation], once more and utilize my existing clones to maximum effect.
Every devil designated with the 'sleeping disease' and any devils within the 'healing range' of those patients were healed instantly.
One second has passed.
I tracked down every injured and sick Fallen Angel and human members of the Grigori in order to restore them back to full health.
Two seconds have passed.
Quickly accessing the system through the Throne of Heaven, I made a couple of adjustments to the system governing the angels.
Four seconds have passed.
Several items were retrieved and placed into one convenient interspatial ring for what I had in mind next.
Five seconds have passed.
The technique ended and left me feeling a little bit 'heavy'. It looks like there's some problems with using it repeatedly in a short time frame, or the imperfections of the technique are finally becoming apparent. It looks like I still need to Cultivate the technique a lot more.
To everyone else, it would have appeared as if I had never left my seat, they were looking at me awkwardly in silence until five seconds had passed.
Gabriel was the first to notice that something was up, "Oh my, everyone, please check your notifications."
Irina, Dulio, Metatron and the other angels proceeded to do just that.
"Mother-in-law, I believe that Sona Sitri is a good friend of yours, correct? Why don't you call her and see if she's checked up on her father's condition?"
"Why would you… oh, I see!"
It's good to know that Rias is quick on the uptake.
"I-It's trending all over Devilnet, many devils inflicted with the sleeping disease have suddenly woken up!" Ravel got the news a lot quicker from her phone, figures that she would be keeping track on social media since she has to handle Issei's branding.
"Technically it's all the devils afflicted by it." I added in casually while drinking some iced chocolate, "I also healed any patients near them, if any. I did the same for many members of the Grigori as well. I'm sure that counts as a start in showing the concerned factions that the rumored reincarnated God, if he did return, is not about to smite them anytime soon."
"No way… you can really do this?" Dulio was the most composed out of all the angels that were still trying to process what was on their Heaven UI, "Angels won't be falling at a single mistake anymore, they get chances to repent just like humans. Angels don't have to worry about 'lust' when having sex so long as they are married in holy matrimony. Th-this is pretty awesome! Man, I already liked you the moment I saw that breakfast, but wow! We have got to hang out sometime!"
"Doesn't seem like it will impact Irina much." Xenovia simply smirked at her long-time partner, "Pretty sure there was nothing 'pure' about what we did in the bedroom."
"X-Xenovia, you idiot! That's totally different!" Irina promptly lectured Xenovia on how proper the 'union' of man and woman is within marriage.
"Just pointing out the fact that it wasn't the case with Angel and Angel marriages, what I did was simply a few patches to rectify the mistake that the last owner of the System probably didn't get around to doing." I quickly contributed to Irina and Xenovia's chat, then continued for everyone's benefit, "As for the grace system, the same logic applies here. If humans get the chance to repent from their sins then I don't see why Angels shouldn't receive the Grace of God either. In this case, they'll get a private warning that they will fall within months if they don't genuinely repent and seek forgiveness, in this case, from Gabriel. Their wings won't blacken during this grace period so that they won't be shamed or judged by their peers and can privately resolve the matter of sin without external pressure."
I was suddenly 'glomped' and received one of the most pleasant hugs in my life.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! Even if you do not know what it means to my brothers and sisters, I can tell you that to partake in the grace of our Father means the world to us!"
Before I could enjoy my situation, I was promptly taught just how much it meant to the angels by way of Metatron and every other pure angel (except Gabriel) started leaping and dancing in front of me like I was in a musical!
I was mortified at the sight!
Please, don't! YAMEROOOOO!
I only want to see beautiful women dancing in front of me, not male angels in priestly garments! I don't want this etched into my perfect memory!
Aaaaaaaah! It's too late, my divine senses won't let me not see it!
… At least I wasn't alone in my circumstances. Kurenai, my little bro, also looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.
I really did not need 2 Samuel 6 to be enacted in my dining room.
Okay, I think I have an idea. I need to take a pill that manifests my memories in place of my mental demons and punch it to death like any Xianxia MC that can't talk about their problems.
The rest of the meeting continued on smoothly after my most recent 'Act of God'.
To reassure communities that Heaven had taken action against in the past like the Faeries. In their case, I gave the Angels some 'gifts' to pass along to them, like my own version of Excalibur (Prototype) and Avalon from the Nasuverse that I made in my free time. Everyone was a little worried about handling a weapon that could output the equivalent of an 'Ultimate-Class' being attack under most conditions (with only a handful of seals released), until I revealed I had at least 16 improved versions stuffed in my inventory, and that I can hand over artifacts at that level of power like trash.
From then on I had the angels compile a more detailed report on every faction that might have some grievances and worries about Heaven so that I can customize some items for them.
Of course, I'm not going to truly 'appease' them or anything, considering that I'm going to arm Gabriel *cough*, I mean, Heaven as a whole with enough measures that will make the gifts handed away to everyone look like a bunch of E-Ranked Noble Phantasms trying to scratch Gilgamesh's Golden Armor.
To further ensure that Heaven wasn't missing out on the goodies, I gave them the Ark of the Covenant that I looted from one of the lost Nasuverse timelines, after recalibrating it to my power so that I can smite any mortal that touches it for lore purposes.
They had apparently lost it in the Great War when a spell sent by a devil flung the Ark of the Covenant into the Dimension Gap where it remained lost to this day.
A few people stuck around and spoke with my household to get to know them (and me, by extension). Gabriel mostly stuck to my side, until Airi ran over from where her mother was seated and latched on to my free arm, where they promptly started talking about various things while still holding on to me.
I spotted Fiore looking at me with her adorable flustered 'you pervert' expression. Mmm, that's the good stuff...
Ravel had, at one point, went up to Artemis and asked whether she wanted to meet with the Greek Pantheon of this world. To which Artemis questioned if Zeus and Hermes were still perverts, at Ravel's nod, Artemis summoned her bow and said that it would be helpful if Ravel could tell them to 'fuck off unless they want to die' if they asked about her.
Ah, that's my wife!
I can't wait to see her violently deal with arrogant males that try to get close to her!
After dual-cultivating together for a long time, it's safe to say that her arrows could probably blow up the planet rather easily just like Lostbelt Artemis... only, she can fire a barrage of it easily like how Lostbelt Zeus fires countless lightning bolts that all equaled Lostbelt Artemis's laser beams in power while all his limiters were applied and 90% of his power was dedicated to managing Olympus.
It's safe to say that Artemis could fight a strong Nasuverse Divine Spirit in terms of raw power, and maybe match Lostbelt Zeus at 10% of his power for a short period of time.
That pretty much makes her one of the strongest beings in this world, not that I would advertise that since Artemis likes keeping a low profile, and that I would be happy to oblige her since I get to watch ignorant males go after her and get a well-deserved beatdown.
Soon enough everyone left my home… which sadly included Airi since she needed to catch up and spend time with her siblings (the ones that didn't attend school) right now, and will be doing so for a few days since they weren't exactly happy with her leaving a clone to take care of them.
… Which technically makes this my fault since I grabbed her to elope to BOFURI's world and subsequently, the Nasuverse, back there.
Alfia took my advice seriously and went ahead to start her video game journey as I intended in the privacy of her own room. Resident gamer girl Artemis went along to help her get used to the RPG series and watch her play.
Which left me with Fiore, Radia and Nazica discussing a manner of topics including the deeper context of the previous meeting and my intentions to start an association of my own.
To my delight, they honestly stated their objections to a certain arrangement of mine, instead of expressing their distaste in an underhanded way.
"No offence to Fiore, she's talented, but she's a total beginner compared to us, much less my sister! I don't very much care about leadership so long as I get to do my thing, but I won't stand for someone so unqualified as our 'leader'."
Nazica was upfront with her reasoning and it was certainly something I have considered.
Like their cousins (the Pentel brothers), the Masters of Red, they were complete monsters in their field of magecraft thanks to their own innate talent and Waver's tutelage.
There were 7 Ranks (excluding the 'colors' like Touko and Aoko) within the Mage's Association, from highest to lowest: Crown, Brand, Pride, Fes, Cause, Count and Frame.
Fiore Forvedge was ranked 'Frame' within the Mage's Association, the kind of rank a crappy Magus like Ayaka Saijou would be ranked at. In practical ability she would actually be ranked at 'Count' (which is below Ritsuka Fujimaru's rank) after taking into account two things. The first of which was her innate ability called "Eulyphis", or Spirit Medium, that would enhance her family's Spirit Evocation specialty. And the second was her knowledge of human engineering and ability to make Mystic Codes like her Bronze-linked Manipulators that could be used with Spirit Evocation to let her contend with Magi above her weight class.
Radia and Nazica Pentel had the rank of 'Brand' and 'Pride' respectively. Considering that monsters like Touko Aozaki and Satsuki Kurogiri were given the rank of 'Crown', this meant that for practical purposes, the two of them held the highest and second-highest achievable rank for 'normal' Magi of the Mage's Association.
To put things in perspective, Zouken Matou held the rank of 'Pride' in his prime (and as a top-tier one at that), where he along with Charles Babbage and his pal Paracelsus slaughtered the entire Mage's Association in the London Singularity of FGO. In ideal conditions like being in his place of power, he was among those groups of humans that could win against a Servant.
Nazica would be the equivalent of an 'Early-Stage Pride' compared to Zouken Matou's 'Late-Stage Pride', yet even after everyone learned my brand of magic that equalized things somewhat, the power gap between just her and Fiore was like that of the clouds and dirt!
Nazica's Binding Magecraft would render Fiore helpless in seconds and would enable her to take down the equivalent of several high-class devils if she manages to reinforce herself before they blitz her using Knight Evil Piece boosted speeds.
As for Radia's combination of Binding Magecraft and Kabbalah thaumaturgy, well, she could have probably made it through the first four volumes of DXD if she had enough prep time and was on the side of the protagonists.
Radia would be considered an 'Early-Stage Brand' compared to Kayneth's 'Mid-Stage Brand' and various Lords of the Clock Tower's 'Late-Stage Brand' rank in terms of power. Taking into consideration that she was younger than Fiore and was 18 years old, that makes her one of the many 'geniuses' that you would expect from a Xianxia story, except she doesn't have Young Mistress level resources compared to someone like Kayneth.
… I can't believe one of my independent thought processes went into a power level and 'realm comparison' monologue.
I think I need some closed-doors Cultivation in an accelerated training realm to collect my thoughts.
"Th-that's not wholly untrue…"
Fiore, please defend yourself better!
Should I motivate her more? Should I say something like 'you dare offend me by disagreeing with this daddy's decision?'
No, that won't really help. She would just look at me like a pervert again, which is a cute look, but one that I should not overdo...
Radia, at least, looked like she didn't want much part in this, "The fact that you can't confidently state why you deserve such a position is worrisome enough. As we have all heard back then, humans are not necessarily considered highly among the Phantasmal specieses of this world, this new 'magician's association' needs to have a strong figurehead despite Dio being the true power behind the organization or it will look like a silly rich girl's club."
She shook her head, "As a researcher at heart, I would rather not take up a leadership position. I also believe that Dio has reasons beyond my comprehension for choosing you-"
Radia glanced at me for a moment and nodded.
Uwah, I just did it because Fiore's cute and we're alike, but I'll just keep quiet and pretend to be a profound sage.
"-but for the sake of not bringing shame upon his currently unfathomable reputation in this world I, Radia Pentel, would formally challenge Fiore Forvedge to forfeit your right to lead this budding association should you lose a little competition between us two."
Oh my, things are heating up, I didn't think they would look so serious about this… I kinda feel bad for jokingly wanting to make a sect now since they were being so considerate about my feelings and reputation.
"I accept your challenge. Then, as the challenged party, you wouldn't mind if I choose the nature of the competition right?"
"Certainly not. You may pick your own field of expertise and it would not change the result."
"Even so… I will keep things fair, let's have a test of our capability by trying something new and unique to this world. Let's have a Sacred Gear making competition."
Huh… I like the sound of that! I will have to find some way to subtly rig things in Fiore's favor, or at least, get her the support she needs to have an even chance.
"Excellent idea ladies! But did you know that the best Sacred Gears often have powerful beasts sealed within them? To make things interesting, how about I open up one of my secret realms for you two so that you can hunt a magical beast down for your Sacred Gear?"
Hosting a little competition between cute ladies is a lot more appealing than going into closed-doors Cultivation.
